A New Beginning
by Willow25
Summary: Chapter 6 is up! Alternate Universe, WIP. Mulder and Scully find a different type of Closure. R & R, PLEASE!
1. Chapter 1: When we Began

Title: A New Beginning

Author: Willow25

Rating: PG

Category: Post-Ep Alternate Ending, veering into Alternate Universe, MSR Established

Spoilers: Closure, or at least most of it.

Summary: Mulder and Scully find a different kind of "Closure".

Disclaimer: Unless someone out there is in desperate need of a writer who can shamelessly swipe characters developed by others and bend them to her will I'm not making any money on this. Big shocker, right? We all know who they belong to. I bow to the God that is Carter.

Feedback/Reviews/Criticism: Would be very much appreciated, indeed.

* * *

Scully stood on the doorstep of Arbutus Roy's house, close beside Harold Piller. She turned to glance at Mulder, leaning on the hood of the car. Sucking up her courage, Scully rang the doorbell with trembling fingers. So much was riding on this moment, Mulder's future happiness as well as hers. 

She had long ago realized that their fates were intertwined, hers and Samantha's. It had never been this critical, though. She and Mulder had become lovers, and in the physical expression of their love their bond had strengthened, although neither would have believed it possible. What began as an attachment born of empathy and physical attraction had grown into a bond that connected them on a sub-atomic level. They felt with the same heart, the same soul. They would never have any peace without finding his sister.

The door opened to reveal a rail-thin woman in her thirties, with shoulder length dirty blond hair and green eyes. Scully judged her to be about 5'7". The blond looked worried that there were people on her doorstep, and tangled her hands in her skirts, unintentionally raising her hem to expose bare feet, toes clenching the carpet. Scully spoke up, before the woman had a chance to say anything. "We're looking for Arbutus Ray. Is she home?"

The woman smiled sadly. "I'm sorry, she passed away three months ago. I'm her daughter, Kayla; is there something I can help you with?"

Scully's face registered surprise at discovering Ms. Roy had a daughter. From the information they'd found at the hospital (she still didn't want to know how Mulder got his hands on the employee records), Ms. Ray had been single and childless when she would have come into contact with Samantha. This woman would have been teenaged herself at the time. Scully felt Mulder approach from behind her. He'd seen the woman at the door, and Scully's reaction to her, and his curiosity was piqued enough to draw him up the slight incline of the walk.

Mulder stepped forward to address the blond woman. "We're from the FBI. We were looking for a young girl your mother treated in 1979, a Jane Doe. We thought she might be able to tell us where the girl had gone, possibly give us a better description. We're looking into a new lead on an old missing person's case. Did your mother ever say anything to you about her work?" Mulder was doing his best to be neutral, but something about this woman seemed familiar to him; it was all he could do to keep himself from dragging her to the nearest hospital to demand blood tests. The part of him which recklessly followed hunches knew that this was Samantha. He tried to give Scully a little mental nudge to check out his feeling, but she was ignoring him and there was nothing he could do about it.

The woman at the door met Scully's eyes, avoiding Mulder as much as she could without being rude. "I'm sorry; my mother never spoke about her patients to me; I didn't even live with her at that time, so there's really nothing I can tell you. I'm sorry." She paused, and Mulder was surprised when she gave them a hesitant smile rather than the cool dismissal he'd been expecting. "We're in the process of going through her things so we can sell the house. If I come across anything which might help you, I could give you a call." She forced out a hesitant smile.

Scully reached out towards the woman, handing her a business card. "We would very much appreciate that. We're sorry about your mother."

Kayla nodded and took the business card from Scully, putting it into her pocket. Just then a little girl came running around the corner towards the door. Mulder felt like he'd been sucker punched in the stomach, his gasp audible to all of them. The girl looked just like Samantha as a child, with her curly brown hair, her pudgy cheeks, and her dimpled smile. Scully also recognized the resemblance. She turned her worried gaze on Mulder, knowing what he thought, and silently requesting that he keep his thoughts to himself if he wanted any more cooperation from the obviously shy and nervous woman before them.

"Mommy, who're they?" The girl came up to Kayla and extended her little arms to her. Her mother obliged by picking her up.

Settling the child on her hip, she turned her gaze to the agents. "I'm sorry about that. This is my daughter, Marissa. Missy, these people are looking for a little girl who ran away."

The little girl turned her eyes on them. "I'm the only girl we have here."

Scully smiled. "Well, thank you. How old are you?"

Missy held up three fingers proudly. "I'm three. My birthday was in February. How are you going to find the girl? Is she in trouble?" Missy was looking straight at Scully, oblivious to the two men.

"No, she's not in trouble, but she has an older brother who misses her very much, so we're just going to have to keep looking." Scully tried to keep up a happy face for the little girl, but the thought of Mulder continuing his search this way scared her. He'd said this was the end of the road; but would it really end here, or would he push forward with heightened intensity at this apparent dead end. They could only take so much more of this stress level before they started to crack, and there was no end to their quest in sight.

Missy held out her little hand to Scully, and Scully took it. The little girl stared at her harder, almost as if she was looking into her head. "She's not a little girl. The girl you're looking for is all grown up. But she's scared of her family. She doesn't remember them; just pieces, scary things."

Scully heard Mulder's intake of breath as another harsh gasp just behind her. Suddenly, all Scully wanted to do was get away from here, to get back to DC with Mulder and sort things out alone, on her own turf. Gently, Scully took her hand back from the child with his sister's face and her sister's nickname. Why did the simplest cases turn complex when they worked on them?

"Thank you, Marissa." Scully looked up into Kayla's troubled face. "We're sorry to bother you, ma'am. If you find anything that might help us find her, please, don't hesitate to call." The woman nodded, and Scully turned away, grabbing Mulder to force him back to the car quietly. Harold followed silently, having nothing to add to the situation.

Mulder's excited, slightly hysterical murmur erupted just as they reached the car. "Scully, did you see that little girl? She was obviously my sister's daughter. I'm an uncle. Did you get a headache or feel nauseous or lightheaded when Marissa held your hand? Do you think...?"

Scully turned to face Mulder as they stopped near the driver's side door. "Mulder, the fact that Arbutus Ray has a granddaughter who bears a superficial resemblance to Samantha means nothing. We still have only circumstantial information to link Samantha to this place, or these people. Now, we are going to get in the car and drive away. When we get back to DC and get some rest, we'll sort this whole thing out." Scully walked around to the passenger door and got in, oblivious to Mulder's frustration.

Kayla Ray-Davis watched as the agents got into the car and drove away. She clenched her daughter tightly to her chest, worried that she had done something wrong. A strange sense of recognition had come over her when she saw the taller man approach the house, but she didn't know how to tell them anything without sounding crazy. Marissa squirmed in her arms, pulling away until she could look up into her mother's face. "Mommy, why'd you lie to those people?"

* * *

Scully sank onto the bed in her hotel room, and flopped onto her back, drained of strength. She turned her head to watch Mulder enter through the connecting door, lowering his tee shirt as he wandered towards her. His voice was almost a whisper when he finally spoke, but she heard him anyway. "Scully, I've been thinking about something. What if Marissa was right? What if Sam's scared to be found? Maybe what they did to her was so horrible, she doesn't want to be found?"

Scully closed her eyes, unable to look at the pain and worry on his face, yet equally unable to ignore his feelings as she shared them, too tired to block him out. "Would it matter; after all you've lost to find her? Don't you just want to know?"

Mulder sighed, and lay on the bed beside her. "Maybe finding her isn't the important part." Mulder brushed a hand across her forehead, his eyes unfocused as he pieced together his sentence. "Maybe just knowing she exists somehow, somewhere, is enough. After all, I haven't lost everything. I still have you." Scully opened her eyes and met Mulder's teary gaze. "Maybe it's time to let go."


	2. Chapter 2: Deal with The Devil

Disclaimer, A/N, and any other pertinent info in the first chapter

* * *

11:21 PM

Mulder and Scully ordered Chinese takeout, and ended up sitting on the floor to eat. The bed was too much of a distraction, and there wasn't a table. As Mulder reached to steal his third Cashew from Scully's plate, there was a loud pounding on the door, startling them. They drew their weapons as Mulder tiptoed towards the door, checking through the peephole before signaling an all clear. Scully lowered her weapon and stepped towards Mulder as he opened the door to the angry man on the other side.

"Are you Agent Scully?" He pushed his way into the room, pinning Mulder with an outraged glare.

Scully stepped forward. "I am. And you are..."

"Brandon Davis. Kayla's husband. Is this your partner? I want to talk to both of you."

Mulder nodded. "Can we help you with something, sir?"

He nodded grimly. "Yes, you can both help me. I want you to leave my wife alone."

Scully stepped forward in an attempt to placate the furious man. "Sir, we followed a paper trail which led us to your wife's mother, not her. Arbutus Roy treated a little girl in 1970 that may or may not have been my partner's younger sister. He just wants to find out what happened to her. Your wife already told us she had nothing to offer, and we left. We won't trouble you again."

Brandon nodded. "I'll take your word on that. I hope to never see either of you again." He turned and let himself out.

* * *

Brandon Davis took the long way home. He loved his family. He wished there was something else he could do, but he had his orders. They wanted his wife back under their control, the memories she seemed to be recovering buried again. Or they wanted her dead.

He'd noticed that she was different months ago, and hadn't done anything. If he'd spoken to her doctor then, this might have been prevented. Then he would have been able to keep his wife. However the previous week, he'd heard her telling Thomas, their oldest, about Massachusetts. Warning bells had gone off in his brain, and he'd practically run to his office to make the report, although he knew even then it was too late.

It hadn't taken his superiors long to call him back with the plan. If she had that much memory of the past, she would soon remember her brother. If that ever happened, there would be hell to pay from the higher ups on the Board. Kayla was their primary bargaining chip against him; if she somehow got in touch with him, the group would lose its power over Mulder.

Also, Kayla was in charge of the egg banks for the United States. If Mulder got his hands on her, she could blow the project wide open with only a few words, destroying years of work. That Mulder would insist on leaking her information to the public had sealed her fate. His superiors had laid down the law. Kayla had to go.

Brandon shivered. The work he did was messy, he was used to that. It involved murder, unauthorized surgeries, and the theft of genetic material from the best human specimens in the world. It was necessary, though. If the aliens ever decided to renege on their deal with the Board, the offspring their work created would be resistant to them; super intelligent, and immune to several forms of alien virus. They had achieved that; now the project consisted mainly of breeding these offspring, and spreading vaccines to the public.

He agreed that Kayla had become a security risk, but he wasn't as heartless as his superiors supposed him to be. He wasn't willing to allow Kayla to be disappeared, her past blotted out once again; or worse, murdered. Not for all the security in the world; she was the mother of his children, and she deserved better from him. So he'd given her a chance. Hopefully his little outburst tonight would draw Mulder and Scully to look more closely at Kayla Davis, make them look into her past, and hopefully save her life.


	3. Chapter 3: Meet the Kryceks

A/N: Cleaning out my hard drive is turning out to be very cathartic. Who knew? Hope someone other than me in enjoying this; well, even if it's only me, I'm having fun! So there. Please R & R, it makes me all tingly inside.

Disclaimer: Yes, I know there was one of these just a few short chapters ago, but I would like to remind you that I don't own Alex Krycek (no matter how much I wish I did), and that I am not making any profit from characters developed by CC. My original characters (Brandon, Anya, Kayla, Thomas, Michael, and Marissa) are used with my own permission, and I am not earning anything off them, either.

* * *

Kayla picked up the phone with trembling fingers. She couldn't shake the feeling that she knew that man on her doorstep earlier. Vague memories had assaulted her all evening, as she prepared her children for bed. Now that they were asleep, she dialed a familiar number, and waited for the line to connect. She waited nervously, one ear open for the sounds of her husband's return.

Alex Krycek startled awake as the phone on his bedside table rang. His wife groaned and shoved her head under the pillows. Rubbing a soothing hand down Anya's back, he reached over to answer the phone, knowing who it was. "Hello." He muttered.

"Alex, how are you?" She tried to sound cheerful, but he could hear the tension under her voice. "Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry. I forgot about the time difference. I'll call back another time."

Alex smiled faintly. They had set up the code not long after he'd been assigned to monitor her progress, almost 8 years ago. It meant that she wanted him to come to California, that she was making progress and needed their help. He couldn't remember the last time he'd heard Kayla so panicked. The last few times she'd needed help, Anya had handled it alone, since he was out of the country.

"It's alright, Kay, I wasn't asleep. We're both going to be home this Friday evening. Why don't we call you then?"

"That sounds great. The kids are going to be so excited to talk to you, they miss you guys, you know. Well, I'll let you get some rest. Talk to you Friday."

"Bye." Alex hung up. He rolled over and snuggled into Anya's back, even though he was too keyed up to sleep.

Kayla knew he was supposed to be reporting back on the memories she'd recovered, and that he wasn't making those reports. Their exchanges always followed the same pattern. Alex and/or Anya would go out for a visit, they got her away from her husband, and then she told them what she'd remembered. They covered it up by telling the consortium that she was having trouble sleeping, dreams of her abduction, or dizziness. Those were normal reactions, not suspicious at all. Anya, the psychiatrist assigned to treat Kayla's 'sleep disorder', had prescribed her drugs the project used to augment memory suppression, and replaced the pills with placebos.

She'd made remarkable progress recovering her memories. Although Alex knew Kayla's history, perhaps knew more about her than anyone on earth, Anya had refused to allow him to tell her, saying that if what he told her didn't match with Kayla's few memories of life before her abduction, it could set her back. Alex chafed under the restriction. Kayla's was the only case he worked with his wife, and one of few where he knew the patient's background. This meant it was also the case he had the most control over, and he was determined that Kayla make a full recovery, so that she could return to being Samantha Mulder.

At first he'd believed in the purposes of the consortium, in protecting the population from alien invasion. His father had been a project doctor, and he'd believed his father's work noble. His scholarship had been interrupted since his teens with requests from his father to serve as an errand boy for higher-ups on the Board. As he'd moved up within the Consortium ranks from assassin to case operative, though, he'd realized the full extent of the horrors the group was inflicting on people all over the world, and had decided to work against them.

When he'd met Anya, and she'd also expressed doubts about her work, he could barely believe it. It had taken two years of working with Kayla before Anya had come to him seeking more information about the woman. She was convinced that Kayla was an unwilling abductee, and that she had been relocated to help cover up the memories. Alex hadn't wanted to reveal what he knew about Kayla Ray-Davis at first, but Anya had convinced him that she was genuinely worried about her patient. When she admitted that she had been treating Kayla with placebo medications, Alex felt hope for Kayla's recovery, for the first time in as long as he could remember.

That day they had made a pact to fight the consortium any way they could, to bring justice to those who had violated innocent civilians without compassion. They had been married only months later, six years ago now. Work forced them to travel so much they barely saw one another, but they considered the sacrifice necessary. Their willingness to put personal time aside had earned them both a certain level of security as they climbed the ladder within the group.

They both knew the risks involved in a complete break from the consortium; even with most of the original leadership dead, there were always men and women hungry for power, willing to step into the void. Until they could disable enough experiments to loosen the group's hold on the general public, there was no hope of bringing the consortium to justice. So they worked covertly, making small dents in projects, trying to stay out of the Board's way. It was tricky, since Alex worked directly for them, but they did what they could.

* * *

The Next Morning

Anna Ivanovich eased out of bed, trying not to wake Alex. He'd been awake most of the night, she knew as soon as she woke to find him stretched half-atop her back. Normally she'd have booted him out of bed anyway, with a few well-place jibes about worrying too much, there was something looming on the horizon; he'd need his rest when the time came. Anya sensed change constantly around her; if something was out of sorts, or there was danger threatening, she felt it coming even when she was powerless to stop it. She wasn't sure whether it was an outgrowth of her Marine training, or whether her training had somehow developed a latent psychic sense, but it was always right, so she never questioned it.

She tiptoed into the kitchen and started a pot of coffee, and called the office to tell them she was taking a couple of days off. That was nothing strange in her line of work, and even the ignorant support staff learned not to ask questions very quickly. If they didn't, they disappeared. She sighed, trying to banish the thought of a bright young woman who had "quit" her job as a research assistant at the clinic last month. One more sin to add to a growing list.

Deciding that reflecting on past offenses was not the way to redeem them, Anya set about making breakfast. She nearly always had the same thing; two soft-boiled eggs, wheat toast, and a bowl of fruit. Breakfast was one of the few constants in her life. Consistency was scarce in her world, and the fragile sense of stability she gained from her monotonous breakfast often got her through the day.

When she'd joined the Marines, she knew it would be a rocky path. Besides the fact that she was a woman, and a little one at that, she was Russian. In 1985, Russia was still the enemy. She'd heard every Communist joke in the book in boot camp, and received the nickname "Little Red" from her fellow soldiers. Despite their initial hazing, they'd been forced to respect her as four of the six women in the program had dropped out before finishing basic. She'd earned their respect with her dedication, her strength, and her iron will. It had been the greatest day of her nineteen-year-old life when she'd graduated from basic training second in her group.

Anya had joined the Marines because she believed in her country. Her parents were scientists, researchers who had defected together. They'd raised their three children to be proud citizens of their adopted country, but also to rejoice in the rich history of their homeland. They had applauded her decision, supported her through those difficult first months of her service, and cheered her on graduation day.

That day might as well have been a hundred years ago. It was another life, led by another woman; a woman with no concept of aliens, eugenics, or conspiracies. Although as far as the US government was concerned she was still an active duty Marine, the Consortium began to subvert her into service to them almost as soon as she left boot camp. When the daughter of two famous researchers practically falls into your lap, you don't wait on your laurels. They had given her a free ride through medical school, a cushy job, and the opportunity to serve without killing, and she'd been in too deep before she knew what had happened.

Anya laughed bitterly to herself. "If I had it to do over…" She muttered, her voice echoing in the empty kitchen.

She'd never thought to question why the US Government would be interested in paying for her to become a psychiatrist for a sleep disorder research program until it was far too late. By the time she'd begun to understand the darker implications of her work, she was director of her own clinic.

As time went on, she'd learned how to help people covertly, to recognize the differences in symptoms between those who were genuinely plagued by sleep disorders, and those whose sleep was being disturbed by repressed memory. She'd studied the components of the medications given to abductees, and developed her own medications to subvert the Board's efforts. Very carefully, she shifted the focus of her reports to indicate slow progress, while covertly speeding the retrieval of her patients' memories through placebo and alternate medications combined with hypnosis. Despite her efforts against her employers, she had slowly lost her civilian patients, until she was brought into the Consortium outright and asked to aid their work with full knowledge.

Anya sighed and ruffled her dark auburn curls, accidentally dropping a hair into her fruit. "Crap." She muttered softly, her pondering momentarily abandoned in her effort to fish the offending hair out of her breakfast.

Alex rolled towards his wife, frowning when he got an armful of air. He shook his head sleepily and climbed out of bed, intent on dragging her back in with him. When he reached the living room he stopped. Anya was perched on a stool at the breakfast bar, muttering into her bowl of fruit as she picked at something. Her hair was everywhere, sticking up at odd angles, falling into her eyes. Her chartreuse terrycloth bathrobe nearly swallowed her, and in her attention to whatever was going on with her fruit, her coffee was getting cold and her eggs were overcooking. He smiled. It was good to have her home again after four months of hasty phone calls and impersonal e-mail messages.

Creeping forward slowly so as not to be detected, Alex pounced, wrapping his arm around Anya's shoulders. She shrieked, and before he knew it Alex was laying flat on his back on the hardwood floor, the wind knocked out of him. "Oh, shit Lexi, I'm so sorry." Anya jumped down from her stool to cradle his head in her lap. "I didn't hear you come up, you startled me!" She looked so worried that under any other circumstance Alex would have teased her. If he could talk, that is.

Alex gasped as his breath came back. He had to remember not to do that. "At ease, Marine," he muttered. "You really need to work on that relaxation stuff."

Anya chuckled wryly. "Sorry, I'm a little wound. I didn't mean to hurt you; are you sure you're okay?"

"Fine," he muttered, rising carefully to a sitting position. "Mental note to self; never sneak up on a woman with hand to hand combat training when she's deep in concentration."

"That'll teach you," she teased halfheartedly. Anya helped her husband to his feet and onto the stool next to hers. "I'm so sorry, I don't know why I did that. Too much time alone, I guess. Just let me finish getting breakfast, then if it still hurts, I'll check you out." She placed a soft kiss on his lips, then another on his forehead before moving to take her eggs off the burner.

If I'm smart, Alex thought to himself, I'll milk this guilt thing as long as possible.


	4. Chapter 4: The Facade

A New Beginning – Chapter 4: The Façade

A/N: It's taken a few days to get this posted because it has undergone massive revisions. I'm excited to hear what you think of it, so please read & review. I'm toying with the idea of taking down some of the earlier chapters for revisions also, so I would love to hear any suggestions you have. I know the action up until now has been a bit slow for some of you, but it will start to speed up in the next few chapters. I promise on my collection of X-Files stuff.

Disclaimer: Don't own anyone whose name you know, not making money from them or the new people (who are all mine!)

* * *

Kayla Roy-Davis spent the morning in her sunny kitchen, her six-month-old son Michael cradled in her lap. Currently spread on the table before her was a stack of files, profiles of breeding subjects who had recently come up in rotation.

Although she had none of the more obvious psychic powers her older children displayed, Kayla's sense of right and wrong was a highly developed beacon. Sometimes the holes in her memory led her to incorrect conclusions, but more often than not it worked regardless. Her spidey sense wasn't good for much, but Kayla allowed it to guide her in making decisions about combining certain breeding subjects.

Being careful not to unduly jostle Michael, she picked up the file on Dana Scully. She hadn't put two and two together the other night, couldn't really make the information in the file mesh with the woman on her porch despite the picture she'd been staring at for several minutes now. The file indicated Dana Scully had cancer, and had donated her eggs to the project so that part of her would live on. A woman on her deathbed, Dana Scully was not; she had fairly sparkled with health. Something felt seriously wrong, Kayla just couldn't figure out what.

She was tempted to call the number on the FBI business card in her pocket and ask Dana Scully these questions, but she forced herself to wait until she'd spoken to Alex and Anya. They might know more about this. She knew they weren't telling her everything she should know about their work; she wasn't even sure they were telling her everything about hers, but they had yet to steer her wrong and she would continue to rely on them for protection until she felt it was wrong to do so.

Kayla sighed and picked up another file, wondering what to do about it. Jeffrey Spender. Since she'd first encountered his name about ten months ago, she had come to remember him as her younger brother. She had vague memories of them playing with other children on what seemed like a military base. She also remembered an older brother, but she could not remember his name, or what he'd looked like. She knew her two brothers did not live together or know of one another; and that neither of them was the child of Arbutus Ray, the only mother she remembered. She had vague recollections of a blonde woman kissing Jeffrey goodnight and knew this was his mother; but the mother of her older brother was a blank, as was any other woman who might have claimed her as a daughter.

The last time they had asked her to breed Jeffrey, she'd done it. Knowing now that this was her brother, and that he was dead, she was unsure of what to do. How was she supposed to just breed together his genetic material with some strange woman's, then send her niece or nephew off to some unknown place where she would never have a chance to meet them? She'd kept tabs on the little girl she'd made last time as much as she was able, but Nadya had been adopted out of her clinic as part of a pilot program. All she knew was that the little girl lived in Arizona on a military base. That was probably all she'd ever know about her niece.

She thought for a moment about putting Jeffrey and Dana together, but that seemed wrong, so she quickly dismissed the idea. She flipped through Dana Scully's file again to see who she'd been combined with in the past, and frowned. There were four entries, marked with the partner subject's serial number but no other information. That was not standard procedure; every combination of DNA was to be marked in the files of both contributors with name, serial number, and project number. Often pictures were included, and information on the resulting offspring. From Dana Scully's file she couldn't tell if the resulting offspring were control or experimental, much less which of the dozens of projects they were intended for, or even if they were alive. Kayla snorted; whoever had last made notes in this file might as well not have, for all the good they did her.

She thought back to the last time she'd worked on Dana Scully's file. She knew she'd seen the name before, but she couldn't remember. Kayla closed her eyes and took a deep breath, attempting to visualize the last time she'd worked on Dana Scully, when she'd last heard the name, and ended up with a fat lot of nothing. There was only a blank space where those memories should be. The notes had been typed by one of her assistants, so she must have seen them at some point, she just couldn't make sense of it.

She supposed that she hadn't paid enough attention to what was going on with Dana Scully's ovum. Her role was more management than anything; she should be able to recite name rank and serial number for any and all of her subjects. If her lab received orders from the Board that certain DNA went together, she needed to be able to respond with speed and efficiency, or she was screwed. Then again, she saw so many names on a daily basis...

Breath sighed from between her lips as the headache she'd been fighting slammed into her. Her head throbbed as if she had a concussion, blinding pain behind her eyes distracting her so much that she forgot to remember how she knew what a concussion felt like. She stood, carefully cuddling Michael close as she strolled towards his room, concentrating on taking one step at a time without passing out. She shivered in sudden terror as she gently placed her son in his crib, not wanting to dwell on how close she'd just come to dropping her precious baby.

Lurching towards the small half-bath across the hall, she gasped to regain her breath, her knees shaking as she leaned against the vanity in an attempt to stay upright. The pain shifted from a rhythmic throbbing to the stabbing of a hundred needles in her eyeballs, her temples, the back of her neck; and Kayla collapsed into a heap of quaking muscles on the floor as her stomach revolted in sympathy and landed its contents in the toilet before her.

On her way back to the kitchen she caught sight of herself in the hall mirror, and froze. Her eyes were riveted on her hair. When had she become a blonde? She remembered being blonde for as far back as she could remember, in all the pictures of herself around the house she was a blonde. Her husband had teased her one day about the gray in her roots, and she'd dyed it. After that, she kept up with the appointments. She couldn't remember dying her hair before that; yet, suddenly it looked wrong.

She thought back over her vague memories of Jeffrey Spender, and his blonde mother. She had known, at the time that memory was formed, who the woman was, and retained the sense that this was not her mother, but she couldn't have told you why until right that second.

Kayla was a natural brunette. She'd bet her life on it.

* * *

"Brandon Davis has become a security risk. He failed to report on his wife's recovered memories, he's been inexcusably slow to act, and he's now refusing to give up the children."

Spender inhaled a lungful of Morley and focused his thoughts. Save his children, his genetic offspring; the rest were expendable. That had always been his focus, and it seemed all the more important as he inevitably came closer to death "What about her doctors?"

"Ivanovich has also failed to report on any recovered memories; although it's possible Kayla has been lying to her, and her mentor Krycek as well. Ivanovich should have picked up on it. I question if she's been doing the required quarterly hypnosis. Krycek would have been easy to fool, especially if Ivanovich was falsifying her notes."

Thank you, Alex, for giving me the means to save you. Wish I could say the same for your wife. "Take Ivanovich back to Tunguska for reconditioning. Her gifts are too necessary; we would have trouble recruiting another so well prepared to work for us. We can send her back to Krycek once she's fixed, and find out if he's part of the problem here. Dispose of Mr. Davis and the older child, then place the young ones in labs."

"And what about Kayla?"

Yes, what about my wayward daughter? Spender considered his options carefully before replying. "Recondition her in the Arizona facility, then set her up as a child-care nurse. We can use a clone to run the egg banks until we find a suitable replacement."

"Perhaps Dr. Scully can be convinced to take over…With the proper motivation…"

Spender's head snapped up. "Scully will be brought in. The timing is my decision. She is not yet vulnerable enough to be coerced easily. Nor is she prepared to participate without coercion. I have a plan for Scully…But not yet. You are dismissed."

"Sir, the timetable?"

"As soon as it can be arranged. Begin with Mr. Davis and Mrs. Krycek."

Marita turned to leave the room before Spender could see her wince. She hated to be reminded that Alex Krycek had been given everything her association with the Consortium had denied her; a family, a future, a chance to escape from the impending disastrous outcome of the Board's sins against the rest of humanity. If any of her coworkers were really human anymore.

Ripped from her parents at the age of five, her sisters long disappeared into testing facilities where they had given their lives to the cause before they hit their teens; her offspring raised in laboratories or foster families, living their lives as test subjects…Marita Covarrubias had never been given the chance to marry or have interests outside of her work; Spender had a way of keeping her under his thumb with threats, intimidation, bribery, and periodic experimentation. At one time it had seemed easier not to fight him; dragging some poor bastard into her dark life would just hurt them. She was potentially lethal to anyone she chose to care about, so it had been easier not to get attached. Now, it was just lonely.

Alex had been a friend since her teens, one of the few she'd ever had, and there was an inherent injustice in the fact that he had always had a seemingly normal family life. Although they worked towards the same goals, Marita sometimes felt like she would willingly sacrifice the fate of the planet if he could feel only a part of the pain she had experienced in her life. Marita tried very hard to treasure Alex's friendship and his concern, and forget that part of her hated her close friend and half-brother.

At least she could get Anya out of the way for a while. Not that she disliked Alex's wife or meant her any ill will, but seeing the contentment they felt together made her jealousy burn brighter, made her uncomfortable with Alex. Having Anya sent away would bring Alex into her confidence without Spender any the wiser, allowing her a bit of comfort in his presence. Better than nothing, and if the last 30 years had taught Marita anything, it was to be grateful for the small things.

* * *

Spender sat back in his chair, crushing out his cigarette as Marita's footsteps faded down the hall. Poor Marita. When he'd introduced her into Alex's life Spender had high hopes for their association. Unfortunately, Alex had never shown much inclination towards his pretty sister, unless he was using her to get to Spender. It was probably just as well that marrying them off hadn't worked. Anya was a revelation, a gem that had fallen into their laps. She brought fresh blood and energy, not to mention her very unique talents, to their experiments. Much like Dana Scully. Besides, many of his colleagues worried about too much inbreeding, and the introduction of the other two women had proven them correct.

Marita would just have to stay with him, as she had since she turned 16; a replacement for her beautiful mother as his lover and an invaluable administrative resource to his cause.


	5. Chapter 5: The Tide is Turning

Author's Notes, Disclaimers, and other stuff in the previous chapters. Please read and review, I'd love to hear if anyone is enjoying this…

* * *

Friday

"He seemed so familiar, I just wish I could place him. Do you think you could find out for me?" Kayla twisted her hands in the hem of her cardigan, unable to meet Anya's eyes across the table. The sounds of Alex carousing with the children floated in from the back yard, a pleasant backdrop to the painful conversation.

Anya had been stunned to learn that Dana Scully was part of the breeding programs. She and Alex had assumed Scully's ova were being used in hybridization exclusively. The fact that Scully, whom Spender considered a possible future project head, was being bred was unforeseen to say the least. Anya took a deep breath. "I can look into it. Shouldn't be too hard to get into FBI records. What I'm more concerned about is the woman. Do you think you could give me the record numbers from her chart, so that I can give you more complete information on her? She will be the key to finding her partner, and if you need to approach them for any reason they might want this information in exchange for your assistance."

Kayla nodded, watching her hands. "Of course. I would like the file to be complete." Suddenly, Kayla remembered a conversation with Jeffrey when they were 10 and 11. "Cassandra." She whispered. "Her name was Cassandra Spender. Her husband's name was Christopher."

Anya flinched at the mention of Spender. "Jeffrey's parents?" She was proud that her voice remained steady, if only for two words.

"Yes, but not mine." Kayla's eyes were unfocused as she grasped at the memory. "It was like the foster families. I…I think he thought he was our father. Father to both of us. But I had been in another house before, with another brother; I had another name. Jeffrey…He thought another man was his father. A Russian man; Jeffrey saw the other man kiss Cassandra, we fought about it. He came with another little boy…Alex." Kayla made eye contact with Anya for the fist time in almost an hour. "Alex is Jeffrey's half brother…Jeffrey is my half brother…My older brother's name was…Fox…He called me Sammy."

Anya bolted out of her chair, toppling it to the floor as she ran for the yard. "Alex!" She called, running towards her husband and Kayla's younger children where they played on a blanket in the yard. "Alex!" She gasped, dropping to her knees beside him. "We have to get them out of here!"

Alex met his wife's eyes, surprised at the fear and excitement he saw there. "She remembers?"

"Most of it. She remembers you and Mulder. She's not safe here anymore."

He nodded, following her train of thought. "She needs to call Scully. And we need to be with her when they come to get her." They gathered the children up to bring them inside, shoring up their courage to explain the repercussions of her memories to Kayla.

As they crossed the threshold Kayla was hanging up the phone, her face pale and drawn as she turned to them. Before any of them could open their mouths, Marissa filled the silence. "Mommy, we need to take Vixen to her parents."

Alex almost dropped the little girl in his shock. "Vixen?"

Marissa met her Uncle Alex's eyes, knowing that he needed to hear it as much as her mother needed her suspicions confirmed. "Uncle Fox and Aunt Dana's daughter. Jeremiah will have to wait at the lab until he's older, he's safe for now. Besides, Vixen is with Kseniya. You need to take Kseniya home, too."

* * *

Mulder pulled the car up in front of the house Kayla Davis had directed them to, cutting the engine and meeting Scully's eyes, communicating their thoughts effortlessly. He knew she wanted to get home, back to the familiarity of her apartment and their work. He didn't blame her. God, he was tired. And there was the funeral on Saturday…Mulder closed his eyes.

They had done a background check on Kayla last night, and although they couldn't seem to find a public record of her birth, there was record of a transfer of custody from her Grandparents to her mother. The story was that Kayla was illegitimate, and her grandparents had raised her until she was a teenager, then handed her over to her mother.

Kayla had called a few hours ago to say that she had information for them, and since they were already packed for their return flight, the LaPierre case at a standstill, it was simple to take a detour to the Davis house before their flight. Scully worried to herself that they were getting their hopes up for nothing, but that was the way the game was played, especially where it concerned Samantha.

Mulder turned his focus to Scully, catching her frown. "Ready, partner?"

She smiled. "Ready when you are, love."

"Scully, I'm surprised at you! We're on a case." Mulder leered at her. "Of course, I love you too, Kitten."

"Call me Kitten again and die, Muldoon." Scully exited the car in one smooth movement, offering Mulder an all-too-brief view of her shapely back. Mulder sighed and hurried to join her, thankful for her affectionate efforts to relieve his tension. The last few nights they had been unable to risk sharing a hotel room, and he missed those warm moments with her before they drifted to sleep. Not to mention the sex. Man, he wanted to go home.

As they neared the door Mulder heard several voices arguing. He caught Scully's eye, and she had noticed it, too. Curiouser and curioser, as they say. He rang the doorbell, realizing with mounting trepidation that he might be about to come face to face with his sister, and have her recognize him. Kayla Davis opened the door with a shy smile for the agents, although it was obvious she had been crying. "Agent Scully, Agent Mulder." Her voice cracked on his name, and she took a breath to steady herself. "Please, come in. I have company, I understand you and I have a mutual acquaintance." She took another steadying breath. "Before we proceed, I need you to promise to be calm. This is all very complicated, and I have small children. I must ask that you remain calm and receptive to what we are about to tell you."

Scully met Mulder's eyes, arching her eyebrow _Do you feel as uneasy about this as I do?_.

He nodded slightly, _I feel like we're about to find the White Rabbit_. He turned to Kayla. "Please, lead on."

She nodded, leading them into her family room. Scully's jaw dropped as she recognized Alex Krycek. She held her tongue in the face of his calm acknowledgement, feeling the anger and confusion rise like a wave in Mulder. Now was not the time to lose her cool, she needed to be in control, for both of them. She managed to remain calm, sending soothing over Mulder like a blanket, reaching out with her energy to run a 'hand' down his back, until she locked blue eyes with the third woman in the room. Only an inch or two taller than Scully, another redhead with only slightly darker hair; damn it, she looked more like Scully than Melissa had. Scully felt for the connection, but there was more than one unmapped wave in the room, and she had trouble isolating the woman. She finally resorted to asking. "What the…"

"Please, Dana, no swearing around the children." The anonymous woman responded before anyone else could. Out of all of them, she was the best prepared for this moment. "I've been waiting to meet you for a long time. I'm Anna, Alex's wife." She extended her delicate hand in Scully's direction, attempting to will the other woman into hearing her thoughts, that she wasn't a threat, that this would all turn out all right.

Scully had no idea why, but she knew Anna was just as upset as she was, and somehow she felt better about shaking her hand. The presence of the other Krycek in the room, however, was troubling. "I wish I could say I was pleased to meet you." She felt the frission of Mulder's sarcastic mental chuckle in the back of her head, and it helped to bolster her. She used Mulder's energy to push off the unmapped waves so she could focus. She needed to be clear right now; she could decomp later if she needed to.

Alex chuckled aloud, drawing the attention of the two FBI agents. Mulder opened his mouth to ask what was so funny, but before he could get anything out, Anya asserted herself. "Hey, Cowboy, why don't you take Rizzo up and put her down for her nap."

"I'm not tired!" Melissa responded without being asked.

"You're right, I probably shouldn't be here." Alex nodded, rising slowly from the couch where he had been lounging, trying to appear less of a threat. Scully noted it and passed the thought along to Mulder. "Come on, Rizzo, nap time."

"Uncle Alex, I said I'm not tired." The little girl responded with as much patience as she could muster, which wasn't a lot, even for an empathic three year old.

"Marissa Anne Davis, go take your nap." Kayla declared. "I'll come check on you in a little while, and if you're not sleeping you can come back down. We need grown-up time, now."

Marissa sighed, and allowed herself to be picked up and removed from the room without further comment, although she would have liked to fight it out with her Mom. They were wasting time, she was getting scared.

Anya sighed as they Alex carried the little girl off. "I apologize for him. My husband has a big attitude sometimes. I realize that your previous associations with him have left you with some unfinished business, not to mention a lot of resentment, but please be patient with us for a little while longer; hopefully you will begin to understand his motives a bit more clearly."

"He killed my father." Mulder muttered before he could stop himself, blocking out Scully's warning push to keep quiet and gather information.

"He did it to save me. I know that's no excuse, but he did what he needed to do to save me. If you had been asked to kill his father to save Scully, I don't doubt you would have done the same thing." Anya responded sharply. "Besides, it allowed him certain access. If anyone else had carried out that hit, it's entirely possible none of the people in this room would be alive today."

Mulder and Scully froze. So may of those words seemed wrong, yet they were so titillating. _What the hell does she know_ Scully sent the thought to Mulder in a push filled with fear and confusion.

_Consortium. She works for them. Double agent maybe, working from the inside towards the same goals as us. I think we're being set up to believe it. She was pushing calm at you earlier, when she shook your hand, but there's a resentment or dislike she feels for you also. She's guarding very well, but I got a bit when she was pushing, she was off her guard._

_So we play along until you find a crack. Something in the house feels off; I can't map it, because there are too many new people, but there was something Mulder flavored here before we arrived. Could be Kayla, might be one of them, trying to cover for her._

_That would mean they knew about the nexus, if they were using the blood to make us believe there was a connection between her and I._

It was their greatest fear, that someone would discover their connection, and what they could do with it. They both knew how to cover, but were they good enough, or had they accidentally let something slip around Krycek?

Kayla broke the silence. "Why don't you sit, and I'll try to explain this from the beginning, as I know it, anyway. Anya will help fill in the blanks; I suppose you can help with that, too."

Silently, they agreed to go along, although they were both teeming with questions already. Mulder and Scully sat on the loveseat, and with a sigh of relief Kayla joined Anna on the couch recently vacated by Alex. "Well." Kayla began. "I suppose the best way to begin is to tell you that I have been experiencing traumatic mental episodes…Flashbacks, seizures, sleep disruptions, night terrors…Since I was about sixteen. I was referred to a psychiatrist, who prescribed medication. It worked for a while, until I was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. I was 25. I went through…They called it post-traumatic stress, from having cancer, if you can imagine. I saw a specialist who put me on new medication, which worked for many years.

"As I got older, I became part of a research project. I was recruited out of medical school…I'm an Ob-Gyn, I should mention that. I work with human embryos, in research; I don't see actual patients, except surrogate mothers. I fertilize them, essentially it's a breeding program, I've learned that much over the years.

"When I became part of the project, I was assigned a 'mentor'. Alex Krycek. I began having problems again with my medication, and my health insurance referred me to Anna. This was just before they got married." She smiled faintly in Anya's direction. "Anya was the first to bring up the idea that I might have repressed memories. When I tried to remember things, I often thought my memories were wrong, even when my mother supported them. Other times, there were blanks. We've been working together for six years now. I've had a major breakthrough today, and since you were asking about Arbutus Ray…It seems strange to think of her as my mother, although until about a year ago I would have sworn that she was my biological mother. Anyway, I remember more of my childhood right now than I have in years, and I believe that I am your sister, Fox." Kayla said it in a rush, almost afraid that if she didn't get it out, the words wouldn't come.

_She changed names on our mystery woman, did you notice?_ Scully felt Mulder's lack of response before she turned to see his panic face. She reached out to their connection and pulled Mulder back, as bodily as she could without touching him, grounding him with her own mental weight. When he was marginally calmer she refocused outward, visually and mentally observing Anna's calm and Kayla's fresh tears. She wasn't getting a read off of either of them, but Mulder's blood; someone related to him was in this room. She could feel it as outside of their special connection, yet inside the connection. She just couldn't tell where it was coming from.

Scully took a deep breath before plunging in. "What makes you think that? Have Krycek and Dr…Krycek…"

"Ivanovich, actually." Anya chimed in. "I believe I can fill in some blanks, here. I was recruited to work on the project when I was enlisted in the US Marine Corps. They put me through medical school, and gave me a grant to study sleep disorders and post-traumatic stress. I realized after a while of working with the patients taking part in my study, that some of them had faced a force much greater than the normal stresses of military service. They were being treated with medications I had never heard of. I began analyzing the medication, and discovered that it contained proteins not found in any substance I had seen before. Over the years I've developed variations on the medication, and eventually discovered how to create a placebo, which looked the same as the functional variety on blood tests, but didn't function in the same way. The medication was a memory suppressant, for lack of a better term."

"There's no such thing as a memory suppressant." Scully frowned. This woman couldn't be for real. Something was very wrong here. And who was that Mulder smell coming from? She knew it was a person now; it was just different enough that she knew it was not Mulder's blood or a clone of him, but close enough to be a relative, a part of the nexus. It only she could touch either of them…

"Alien DNA. Unidentified protein compounds. Tell me if any of this sounds familiar, Scully. You're the only surviving civilian researcher in the field." Anya snapped, a wave of malice rolling off of her before she could calm it. "You have some nerve, telling me what isn't possible. You have no idea what any of us have been through. Not even any clear idea of what happened to you, although I think we can figure it out. We're dealing with a series of projects you can't begin to see the scope of until you have all the facts. Do you want to be part of the solution, learn the facts and learn how to stop them; or would you rather bury your head in the sand, die barren, risk cancer and abduction all over again?"

"Anya!" Kayla jumped out of her seat. "Leave her alone this minute! I can't believe…"

"Anya!" Alex called, thundering down the stairs. "We need to get them out of here, now!"

Anya focused all of her attention on Alex, searching his face. Mulder and Scully sat by, watching the interplay between their supposed enemy and this new player, both of them feeling the flare in the nexus as it recognized fear in another of their blood. There were just too many of them, too much emotion, to figure it out now. Scully was assailed by a heightened sense of Mulder, as if he had moved closer to her, but she could see that he was still almost six inches away. The nexus was tightening, the way it did when they were chasing a suspect, but they weren't drawing it in. Someone else within the nexus was.

"What happened?"

"You've received a new assignment. Tunguska, tomorrow at 07:00 leaving from Andrews. We're made"

Kayla blanched. "How the hell did they find out?"

Alex took a deep breath. "Brandon. I'm so sorry, baby. We need to run, with you and the kids. Quicker the better." He moved across the room to take Kayla's trembling form in his arms. "Rizzo just told me."

"Marissa." Anya muttered. "Lexi, does Marita know?"

He nodded, meeting his wife's eyes over Kayla's shoulder. "Rizzo says she transmitted, but I'm not sure Riz wasn't trolling for something. Marita's never shown that kind of range before. We need to get the kids packed, then…" He was cut off abruptly as Kayla slumped into a dead faint. "Jesus, not now." He muttered, lowering her limp form to the couch.

"She's probably in shock. It's too much too soon." Anya was at her patient's side, taking her pulse. "Why don't you guys go get the kids together, see if you can grab some documents and pictures but don't sweat it too much. Scully, could you help me with her?"

"Right." Alex turned to head back upstairs. "Come on, Mulder."

* * *

Without realizing exactly what they were doing, Mulder and Scully found themselves obeying Anna's orders, caressing mentally one last time before they simultaneously brought down their shields and focused on the task at hand. At the top of the stairs, Mulder and Alex encountered a sobbing Marissa and her suitcase. "What's wrong, baby Rizzo?" Alex asked, kneeling before her. They didn't have time to talk, but he knew the girl's powers. It was better to be prepared, and she was currently their only source of information.

"Tommy. Daddy's trying to get to keep all three of us, but they're gonna kill Tommy." The girl sobbed for her hero, her big brother who had hung the moon as far as she was concerned. "We don't have time to get him. Daddy doesn't know what they're doing, and I can't tell him; he won't listen."

Alex grabbed the little girl up in his arms, giving her a heartfelt squeeze, then handed her to Mulder. "Rizzo, stay with Uncle Fox, I need to get Mikey and some things for him. Mulder, try to calm her down. She's terrified." And so am I, he thought. He turned away so Mulder couldn't see the fear, but Mulder saw it nonetheless. He felt it like a wave pushing over him, igniting his own. Mulder felt for Scully's reassurance, and received it, but his uncertainty remained. It had felt, for a moment there, like Krycek was inside the nexus.

Mulder lowered his eyes to the adorable brunette sobbing in his arms, and was thrown back to a memory of Samantha crying herself to sleep in his bed, terrified because of their parents' screaming fight. He held her a little closer, running a trembling hand through her snarled curls. "Don't worry, Rizzo, we'll keep you safe." He lowered his face to press a kiss to her heated forehead. His niece, his heart felt it. The nexus accepted her and her powers, and even without Scully here to map the connection, he was sure it existed.

As he held Rizzo and her crying slowed, he felt Scully shut down their connection. He panicked for a second, worried because he couldn't feel her, then he realized what she must be doing. She was taking the opportunity to map their connection with Kayla; to find out if they were related. He cuddled Rizzo closer, wondering what Scully would find, afraid to hope

Alex emerged from a bedroom down the hall with a bundle in blankets, carrying another suitcase, and again Mulder felt the nexus pull. How the hell was Krycek involved in all of this?. "Rizzo, baby, can you move over so Uncle Fox can hold Mikey, too. I need to get some things for your mommy."

The little girl shifted, and suddenly Mulder's other arm was full of baby. He blinked down at the little bundle, heavy and warm in sleep. The boy had very dark fine hair, which seemed to be a mixture of curly and straight, as though it was still making up its mind.

Rizzo followed his eyes to her baby brother, calmed by the feelings of love and protection this man gave off. He didn't know that mommy was telling the truth, but he still loved them, and part of him knew that they were family. That was enough for her. "Can I get down please, Uncle Fox?"

Mulder's eyes shifted back to meet hers. "Did Kry…Alex tell you to call me that?" He knelt on the floor so that he could put her feet down.

"No. He told me that I should call you Uncle Mulder if I had to call you Uncle something, but I said no." She pouted out her lower lip, and if Scully were there she could have told him that he'd made the same face more times than she could count. "You're my Uncle, I'm going to call you Uncle Fox." She picked up her little suitcase, and Mulder picked up the bag Krycek had packed for the baby almost without thinking. Scully was opening up to him again, but she was confused and faintly bruised in spirit, and Mulder could ask nothing more of her than to accept the bear hug he gave her and a soft kiss. He needed to see her, and they needed to leave the house. Krycek appeared with another bag and headed down the stairs, Marissa and Mulder following at a slower pace.

When they reached the living room, Kayla was sitting on the couch next to Scully, while Anya checked her vital signs again. Kayla's eyes were red from crying, and Scully looked pale. Mulder felt the nexus tighten again, as it seemed like there were more people, more shields than there had previously been. Anya turned to meet her husband's eyes. "We need to go. Now."

Alex nodded, turning toward the door. "Mulder." He murmured. "It might be safer if you and Scully take the kids, and we take Kayla. We'll call you in a few hours and arrange to meet. I suggest driving south, somehow. Don't discuss the route. There are diapers and formula in Mikey's bag. His name's Michael, he's six months." Alex kneeled to meet Marissa's eyes. "Rizzo, can you call Mulder and Dana mommy and daddy if you're around other people? It's very important."

The little girl searched Alex's face, until evidently she found what she was looking for. "Okay Uncle Alex. Take care of Mommy. She's very sad."

"I know, baby." He gave her a watery smile. "Be good. I love you."

"Love you more." The little girl threw herself into his arms. Mulder stood a little in awe of the emotion he'd seen on Krycek's face. Who knew that the assassin had real human feelings? "Don't worry. Uncle Fox won't let anything happen to us." She sounded so sure, Mulder suddenly realized the responsibility he would be taking on. He hadn't even really accepted it, they had simply taken for granted that he and Scully would drive off with a stranger's children. Granted, that stranger was his lost sister, but it was a lot to take in. He needed to talk to Scully; she had to have found out something.

The sense of her presence surrounding him, the feel of her silky little arms wrapped around his waist drew his attention away from Krycek and Marissa, and Mulder turned to find Scully in the doorway behind him. "Mulder, can I have the car keys? I need to transfer the car seats for the kids into our car." Well, evidently Scully had sorted some of her confusion out. She was almost entirely focused on soothing him, and he worried for a minute that her emotions were still too closed off. He hoped they were doing the right thing.


	6. Chapter 6: Born to Run

A/N: I should have posted this note at the start of the previous chapter, but anyway…All Italics are spoken thoughts, psychic communication, whatever you want to call it. This chapter was recovered from an old copy and revised quickly, so please let me know how it worked out.

* * *

_She is your sister. The blood is the same, from the same two parents. I mapped her while I was taking her pulse. I'm not sure she's Samantha, though. I'd need something of Samantha's to confirm it._

_What was the rest of that; all the interference? It felt like there was a connection, but I couldn't tell to whom. Was it just the kids?_

_I don't think so. The kids are in the nexus, I'm pretty sure of that, but the husband isn't, which would make the interference from the kids less profound. I think. Maybe their powers amplify it? No, I think it was coming from someone else._

_Krycek? How?_

_Could also be the wife; we don't know. Maybe one of them has powers, and tapped in to our connection somehow? Maybe the wife is a distant cousin of…someone._

_You said the house was 'Mulder flavored' before we arrived?_

_With three kids, all of whom have her blood, your blood, living in that house? That's probably what caused it. It's hard to say. When I'm around my family, I don't feel them as part of me, I feel them as individuals, the way I feel you. I asked Mom, and she said she was never able to feel Dad's siblings, or Aunt Rose's husband, although she felt my cousins. It could be that our connection is stronger, or that we're more adept at using it, or it could be other people imprinting onto the connection. That interference; it felt like there was something pushing on us._

_Wait; how can you be sure that Kayla and the kids are in the nexus if you can't feel them?_

_Mulder, I said my mother can't do it, I never said I couldn't. I've felt Charlie's wife inside the nexus, linked to me through him. Maybe it's because I can map, or Kayla's close relationship to you, but as soon as I found solid DNA evidence linking the two of you, I reached out and I could feel her with the connection. Then I found the kids. I'm not sure we could communicate with Kayla, but we can probably triangulate her location. This is really an unusual situation, Mulder; my mother didn't go out looking for lost family members because neither she nor my dad had any. I'm not sure I ever could have connected us to her without the mapping, but it did seem like it decreased the interference…_

_Uncle Fox, Aunt Dana, I have to pee._

Mulder almost ran the car off the road when he 'heard' the little voice of Marissa Davis in his head. He looked around for a rest area, and after a moment recognized the blue sign telling them to exit left in 1.5 miles. He opened his mouth to respond, only to be interrupted by Scully's soothing thoughts.

_It's okay, Rizzo. We'll be getting off soon. Are you hungry?_

_Little. I miss Mommy._

_I know, sweetheart. We'll see her soon._

_The bad men from Daddy's work stole my Teddy Bear. _Mulder and Scully exchanged bewilderment, until the girl opened her mind to them. They could clearly see the Davis home, men ransacking it, looking for clues to how they had gotten away, packing items away in bags and boxes.

"They're from your Daddy's work?" Mulder asked tentatively.

_Uncle Fox, you're gonna wake up Mikey._

_Sorry, sweetheart. How do you know where they came from, where the bad men work?_

_I can hear them talking, they said things about hurrying back to the General, and about how bad this is for Davis. Davis is my Daddy, and the General is his boss._

Scully carefully focused her thoughts until she was shielded from everyone but Mulder. _Mulder, we need to get the kids to their mother, make sure she's okay, and get back to DC _

_You want me to abandon them while they're being hunted by the consortium? Scully…_

_No, it's not abandoning them. We need to be able to do our job; if they're trying to kill us, how are we supposed to keep everyone safe. As long as you and Kayla aren't together, she has a better shot at living. At least until they stop looking for her._ Scully sighed, a whisper of breath, but still somehow startling in the silence of the car. _When we stop I'm going to try to reschedule our flight._

_Don't reschedule, just cancel it. _Mulder pulled off the highway with a sigh of his own, considering Scully's words and the situation, and coming to a completely different conclusion. _See, I think you're wrong. I think we can keep her and the kids safe as long as we stick together. I think the best thing to do is meet up with Krycek, take Kayla, and run. Put them in protective custody or something. _He pulled into a parking space and cut the engine. _I vote we table this discussion until later. Now, how do we do the whole bathroom thing with two kids._

* * *

_I like her more than I expected to. _Anya smiled at her husband, reaching out to brush a fingertip up his thigh. _I mean, I figured she'd be special, based on what I've heard from you and everybody else. I was worried that I'd hate her just on principal, what with the whole looking alike thing, but she gave off really good vibes. She's very strong psychically._

Krycek frowned. _She is? The testing done on her when she was abducted indicated latent ability, but they didn't find anything usable. They were pretty certain that whatever she had was dormant._

_Well, she was using it today. I'm not sure, but I think they were communicating. There was definitely something going on there; couldn't you feel the power?_

_I felt it on Mulder, but no more than I usually do. _

_Maybe they've found a way to share his powers._

_That'd be a neat trick, especially since the Board doesn't know they can do it. It could be helpful. _Alex drummed his fingers on the steering wheel, checking in the rearview mirror that Kayla was still asleep. _Do you think they know she's Samantha? I mean, do you think they'll trust us._

Anya called to mind everything that had happened that night. Especially, she recalled seeing Scully taking Kayla's pulse, holding her wrist with unfocused eyes. She'd felt a push of power; it had been masked pretty well, but standing so close by, being so focused on trying to wake Kayla from her faint, she'd felt it. _I don't think they'll trust us, but I think they recognize her. Or they feel a connection towards her. I don't know, I'm running on impulse here. Scully was distrusting and unwilling to accept Kayla's story one minute, then she was right there with me trying to help her. There has to be a reason for that._

_She's a doctor, she was helping a patient._

_No, it was more than that. It was like she suddenly felt protective towards Kayla. Like she was pulling her closer, in her mind…_

A noise from the back seat got their attention. "Missy." Kayla murmured. Her eyes blinked open. "Get on Route 105 and take exit 17A, for the rest stop. We're meeting up."

"And the hits just keep on coming…" Alex muttered.


End file.
